Theme 1 - Pain and suffering
Going through hell is painful and is such a suffer.
"...was a cat o’ nine tails made of frayed wire."
"Then the tines of the cat landed on the man’s back with a crack and a hiss, tearing through the expensive clothes, burning and rending and shredding as they struck."
"The demon took apart his life, moment by moment, instant to awful instant. It lasted a hundred years, perhaps, or a thousand – they had all the time there ever was, in that grey room – and toward the end he realised that the demon had been right. The physical torture had been kinder."
"It was like peeling an onion."
- Pain and suffering are throughout the story. The things that happen when the character(he) went through Hell, all the physical and mental tortures, make the man become hopeless. Near the end of the tortures, the man lost his will to survive and fight against the demon. Pain could be physically, could be mentally as well. Long-term suffering could actually kill a man, maybe not the death of the body, but it could be the death of your faith, the faith to fight against the evil, the faith to continue surviving.
- Detailed torturing methods are introduced throughout the text. By describing the reaction of the main character, it shows the process of losing humanity of a well-being human. From full of hope, to become other people -- demon.
- I always believe that behind every successful person, they must have suffered through a lot that we could not imagine. It is obvious that not everybody is successful, but almost everybody have been suffered. The ones who is not successful to themselves, are just like the character in this story. They were suffered, they were painful, and they did not make to the end. They lost their faith, or they gave it up even the finish line is right there.
We all have to accept the truth, even when it is brutal.
"He no longer wept."
"He crouched on the floor, beside the brazier, rocking gently, his eyes closed, and he told the story of his life, re-experiencing it as he told it, from birth to death, changing nothing, leaving nothing out, facing everything. He opened his heart."
"He crouched on the floor, beside the brazier, rocking gently, his eyes closed, and he told the story of his life, re-experiencing it as he told it, from birth to death, changing nothing, leaving nothing out, facing everything. He opened his heart..."
- Near the end of torture, the man finally surrendered. Not only to the demon, also to himself. He lost his faith to struggle, to fight back, even to cry and scream. Some people may say he gives himself up, but from another perspective, it is his acceptance, acceptance of the brutal truth, brutal situation.
- In the beginning, the man was screaming, fighting for his life. He thought he would be able to fight the demon and finish all those suffering, but he was wrong. He accepted the truth after a long time both physical and mental torture. He is break down. Mentally and physically. He is not himself anymore, now he is just an object that has been through a lot of inhuman suffering. And he accept that, he lost his own identity.
- Accepting the situation could be positive, it could also be upsetting. In some points in our lives, we all have to accept something we do not want to accept, i.e. breaking up, the death of our families etc. But eventually, we have to accept. As the time flies, those things fade away, and we move on living our life, meeting all those wonderful things and darkness. Learn to accept, is a basic concept in our life, which help us to move on, to explore the future full of potential.
I believe in reincarnation, for some reasons, I also believe Heaven and Hell exist. Maybe Heaven and Hell are representing two places with total opposite atmosphere, one is for good people, another one, for the bad. I always think that everything we do will lead to something, and Hell and Heaven are the final results.
The man in story got trapped in Hell must do something that was unethical and hurt other people. Maybe he thought tons of OTHER PEOPLE did bad things, himself would not be the one to go to Hell. We human beings always have the instinct to copy other people's behaviour, it could be good, and it could be bad at the same time. We have the instinct simply cause we think if it is good, ourselves could benefit from that, if its not, there will be OTHER PEOPLE to bear the consequence, at least someone could share the consequence with you. To me, that is wrong, but sometimes, we have to do things like that.
I always trying to be unique, I always try my best to be the first person to do something. But it is impossible to always be the first one for everything. When other people are doing something that you think it is good, you have to do it anyway.
Like we discussed in class, our moods are influenced by news. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad. That's because we feel good or bad about the news. But after awhile, that moods fade out. For the most part, we forget what happened before. Since we always think:" I won't be like that, it will only happen on other people." That's why accident always happen, that's why people are still making the same mistakes that happened thousands of times.
Do NOT always think you will not be the OTHER PEOPLE.
My Favourite
- "The demon took apart his life, moment by moment, instant to awful instant. It lasted a hundred years, perhaps, or a thousand – they had all the time there ever was, in that grey room – and toward the end he realised that the demon had been right. The physical torture had been kinder." --- People start realize something after difficulties, in this case, torture.
- "'Come close,' said the demon, ... 'Now,' said the demon, in a voice that carried with it no sorrow, no relish, only a dreadful flat resignation, 'you will be tortured.' ... But the demon shook its head and made no reply. ... 'Yes.'" --- Throughout the story, the demon never talks much. Those simple but efficient responses represent the trauma that torture brought, especially emotionally. Also shows that every demon has been through a lot before truly become a cold blood monster.
- "A man stepped through the door. There was terror in the man’s face, and arrogance, and pride. The man, who wore expensive clothes, took several hesitant steps into the room, and then stopped. When he saw the man, he understood." --- From this man, the main character saw himself, that he was exactly the same when he first came to Hell. Then, he knows it is a round, and now he is the terrifying demon.
Thinking
- If the Hell, or place like Hell actually exist? If yes, who will go to that place? If not, is it the demon that exists deep inside our hearts?
- When we are the "other people" from others' perspective? Is the "other people" good or evil?
